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Our forests are falling silent as introduced pests eat our native birds’ eggs and chicks, and the plants, seeds and fruit they need to survive, however, with your support we can bring back a full choir of songbirds to our forests.
To hear some of our most beautiful soloists click on the play buttons below. And if you fancy yourself as a composer of sorts, craft your own birdsong symphonies by clicking on multiple buttons. Our feathery choir awaits your instruction!
Kokako
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Once found throughout much of New Zealand, this wattlebird is now restricted to a few forested patches in the northern part of the North Island. The only bird known to pair with a male partner, the kokako once had researchers stumped when several hundred pair bonds failed to produce chicks. Naturally civil unions weren’t going to produce offspring. Since then, control of introduced pests has led to a good recovery of the female population, with a numbers sitting around 1700 birds. As well as being part of the kokako recovery programme, Forest & Bird has re-introduced these songbirds into the pest-free sanctuary Ark in the Park in the northern Waitakere Ranges, Auckland.
Tui
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One of our most popular songbirds, the tui is an astute copycat, and has been known to master everything from ringtones to other bird’s calls. One such talented imitator memorised the Pizza Hutt jingle. As well as being an accomplished songbird, the tui acts as an important pollinator of many our native plants. Forest and Bird’s 40 reserves around the country have become home to large tui populations. Tui populations respond very well to increasing pest control
Grey Warbler
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This little battler is one of our most resilient native birds. Having on average two broods per year, with 3-6 eggs per brood, it is well placed to battle the onslaught of introduced pests such as rats, stoats and possums. Like many other native birds the grey warbler only truly thrives where introduced pest numbers are controlled. As well as resisting introduced predators grey warblers often find themselves raising shining cuckoo chicks – a duty they undertake without a tweet of complaint!
North Island Kiwi
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Equipped with a strong pair of legs, North Island brown kiwi are prize-fighters once they hit their youth (1 year). However, before this age they are vulnerable to predation by introduced stoats. Once widespread throughout the North Island (NI), NI brown kiwi are only doing well on pest-free islands or in mainland areas which have intensive pest control. Since 1994, Forest & Bird has been part of the Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi Trust which helps to fund the management for this species. The “BNZ Operation Nest Egg” supplements the intensive pest control by taking eggs from the wild, hatching the chicks and then raising them in ‘kiwi crèches’ , such as Bushy Park , until they are big enough to look after themselves.
Kaka
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This inquisitive, chatterbox uses holes in trees to make its nests, making it particularly vulnerable to introduced predators, such as stoats. The kaka has a sweet tooth and feeds on sugary foods such as endemic mistletoe and rata and it is thought that it may require this high-sugar diet to breed. Unfortunately, introduced possums and wasps also like these sweet foods. Predated heavily, stripped of much of its habitat & now having to compete for its food, kaka populations are only doing well on predator-free islands such as Kapiti island, and mainland areas where there is intensive pest control.
Kakapo
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The world’s largest parrot, whose population numbers just over 120 individuals has an extraordinary mating call, aptly described as’ booming’. A male kakapo will inflate its thoracic sac and release a sonic boom that can travel 5 kilometres. It can continue booming for eight hours, over a period of 2-3 months. Not a stay-at-home type, the male kakapo will leave the female to rear his young, making them especially vulnerable to introduced predators – given that the female has to leave the nest to find food. A strong body odour also makes it prone to predation by introduced pests such as stoats and feral cats. Forest & Bird is part of the Kakapo Recovery Trust which helps to fund the management of this species on pest-free offshore islands